I have been meaning to write this article for quite some time now. I have always understood that there has been two schools of though about this but which way is the better way. On the one hand we have the school of thought that the breaking of enemy bonus zones is of high consideration even before the building and forming of one's own bonus zone. And at the other extreme is the school of thought to ignore the other teams bonus zones so as to give full concentration and effort to the building of one's own bonus zone.

This latter school of thought then becomes much like a race to see which team builds and takes advantage of the bonus zone extra troops first as the eventual confrontations of forces are mostly held in check until after the construction of the bonus zones while the school of thought that regards the breaking of enemy bonus zones are in fact engaging the enemy right away. The very act of positioning your forces for the breaking of potential bonus zones is an act of immediate confrontations of forces.

I use to be of that school that encourages the creation of bonus zones especially in those games where there are no spoils and are also Trench settings. I use to think that the bonus zones in these types of games are what determines the winners. That is until I recently lost just such a game before any bonus zones could even be formed. That's because good strategy is better than bonus zones. And the breaking of bonus zones over building them is very good strategy.

I personally think that the reason for the breaking of bonuses is better than the building of them is because in the breaking of bonuses you are actively engaging the enemy right away, while if you are focusing in building Bonus zones you are not so much actively engaging the enemy forces but delaying it. It's a question of timing. Normally it has to be that the one who hits first and hardest, hits best.

Like two boxers holding back their power punch and just throwing jabs until the right opportunity to plant those power punches arrives. In the same way the team looking to build bonus zones first is not looking for the opportunity to plant their power punches first while the team looking to break any potential enemy bonus zones is planting their power punches first and hardest.

In the end it comes down to basic economics. It is always easier to destroy than to develop and easier to knock down than to build up. While some may spend time and effort building up the bonus zones the team looking to knock them down will often be more successful and deliver that power punch first and hardest. Remember that it took eight years to build up the World Trade Center but both Towers were "Pulled" down in less than Two hours. OK so actually it took months to plant the explosives but still it was easier to Knock them down than to build them up.

So when you play in teams remember that you will do the best for the team if you position your stacks to the breaking of potential bonuses or at least not let the opponents build up bonus zones in the first place. So in order of importance here is the Order in regards to bonuses and bonus zones.

The 1st four are Bruceswar's priorities in order:1- break bonuses2- break populations to below 12 to break popln bonuses3- take your own bonuses4- eliminate a playerThese 4 subject to the facts-on-the -ground when the beginning game-drop is first seen.

Unless you already had dropped, almost completely in a bonus region, that would be the exception to the rule. Otherwise then, it is simply best to do number 1 before number 2. If given a choice between 1 and 3, always do number 1 first. It's that simple. Unless as mentioned circumstance on the ground (initial drops) change matters.

And in view of that fourth protocol (4- eliminate a player); If you can eliminate a player in the first round then why not. Unless the early elimination of an opposing team player leads to your own elimination as well. Then what is the point. Usually this is a most unlikely probability and I don't believe that Bruceswar meant it in just that context. But still given the choice of just breaking a bonus or attempting the elimination of a player, do the first. It's a question of economics although special circumstances always deserve special consideration.